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I've had a Sleep Number for almost 8 yrs. Huge difference from a regular mattress. Has held up amazingly well - there is absolutely no visible wear on the foam pads on top of the air pillows. Don't know if this is because I'm kind of small (~115 lbs)? Anyway, I absolutely love it.

takilma - after sinking into the T/P I'm looking for something firm. What number did you set your Sleep Number bed? I hear it self-adjusts so if the air goes it, it fills itself. Have you ever used memory foam before?

Sleep Number is amazing. I've had mine for a little over two years - it has memory foam also. When we are out of town we always look forward to getting home to the Sleep Number...

Mine is an older version, and I think it displays differently than the new ones. At any rate, with the range being 0-100, I keep it set at 50. I have only had a loss of pressure once, and I don't know the reason. Probably a cat under the bed, playing with the control. No experience with memory foam, if you are speaking of the pads that go on top of a mattress. My daughter thinks they're heavenly.

The Tempurpedic is actually memory foam. I'm so disappointed w/it. I'm only 120 pounds, but I'm sinking in that bed and it's very uncomfortable.

Thank you for the feedback. I appreciate it.

sorry to hear you don't like the tempurpedic. we have had ours (a rhapsody model i think) for about two years and LOVE it. we can't wait to get back to it when we are out of town!!!

I tried the temperpedic then donated it to charity after about 10 months. Now I sleep on a 2-inch-thick, $200 memory foam mattress from Bed Bath Beyond, which rests on top of some Aikido mats atop the wood floor. It is just right except when the dog decides to lick my face.

Side note: Ab strength training, regular stretching, and proper posture during the day do wonders for your back at night. Lay on your back on the floor, bring your legs and butt up and touch your toes to the floor over your head for a great all-back stretch.

I do abs just about every day. I work out regularly and stretch.

nostradamus - why did you donate your Tempurpedic to charity? Was it not comfortable for you? Did you experience the sinking feeling?

Yes, it was like you said: felt like quicksand and really didn't support me in the right places. Also, in the summertime I don't like to run the A/C and heat affects the resistance of the mattress, making it even mushier when you least want it. It was so-so during winter but when the dog days of summer arrived I was stewing in my own sweat. I couldn't take it any more.

Sorry to hear you don't like your Tempur-Pedic--I truly, madly, deeply love mine. We don't have the classic--it is one step up from that, I think. My husband recently slept on a Sleep Number bed at a hotel, and he thought it was pretty comfy. I would recommend going to a store where you can try out the feel of different mattresses. Once upon a time we bought a couch from a popular mail-order furniture store, and I hated that darn couch! It looked cute, but it was VERY uncomfortable. I will never buy another piece of furniture that I have to put my body on without thorough testing in person first.

atr - I got the Classic b/c from my understanding it is supposed to be the firmest.

Do you feel your body sinking in your mattress? How long have you had it?

So frustrated b/c they're not cheap and I was okay w/paying whatever, as long as I can sleep w/out back pain.

For years I went to the chiropractor every week for lower back pain. Once I got my sleep number bed the back problem disapperaed. I had to play with the firmness setting for a while, but once I got it dialed in it was magic. For the first time in years I was able sleep in, since the back pain was no longer forcing me out of bed. My wife also loves it too, especially when she was pregnant!

I should've posted this a long time ago. Thanks for the feedback. I've gone to chiros, MRI, etc. I have less pain sleeping on the floor! This is reassuring to hear it helped your back, george.

Extra firm Simmons Beautyrest, non-pillow top. Simmons have individually wrapped coils.

jp, what did the MRI reveal? Aching back may be a symptom of many things, not just the bed. It's good that you had it checked.

nostradamus - don't get me started. MRI - fine. Xrays - fine. What the heck could it be? Some kind of posterior ulcer? Blood tests - fine. Endoscopy - fine. Gallstones? Ultrasound - fine.

I'm running out of things it could be. I wouldn't think it could be something as simple as the mattress, particularly not a high-end Tempurpedic mattress, but I'm more and more suspecting that's what it is, since I feel like I'm being devoured by it.

jpinpb - we purchased ours at a Navy Exchange, so our only choices were the Classic and the one we purchased (guess I should go take off the corner of my sheets and figure out exactly which one it is!) Ours was slightly more expensive, a little thicker, and we both thought it was more comfortable. We went on the advice of a friend that has a degenerative back disorder, and she also loves hers.

It took a few weeks to adjust to it, but now we both adore it. The thing that bugged me most at first was how it takes a short time to readjust to your body when you move around! Now I don't even notice that. We have owned it for almost two years. In terms of sinking in, neither one of us is a petite person--I'm not large, but definitely average.

I don't know what to tell you except that a good night's sleep is worth it's weight in gold. Mattresses are not one size fits all. Just because others love it doesn't mean that you should. I feel for you--as you say, they are definitely not cheap, and if it isn't going to work for you, it is an expensive "mistake".

I think I read somewhere once that back pain is one of the most common complaints that people go to a doctor for, but also one of the most mysterious things to accurately assess. Frustrating, eh?

btw, when my hubbie slept on the Sleep Number bed, he cranked it up to 100. Good luck figuring out your mattress situation!

Yes my first thought was gallstones, since my sister just had surgery for that. She had aching back as a symptom.

Anyhow, good luck, it sounds like you're going with a sleep number.

My problems went away after I stopped sleeping on a spring mattress. Now I use fairly inexpensive firm foam mattress from Ikea on a platform bed.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/produc...

Try it out in Ikea and see if it helps

I slepted on my mom's tempurpedic, and couldn't move the next day.
I have always had water beds, which I love, but maybe someone out there can help me with my new delima.
I replaced our 17 year old tube water bed, (why I have no idea!) with a new one that has dual water bags and a pillow top.
The freakin' things smells of musty/mildew. I was told that the water was too cold compared to our body heat, so we got a heater. That hasn't helped, we have changed the moisture resistant mattress pad with 100% cotton. We have removed the pillow top and put it in the sun. We have washed and rewashed the linens so many times they are practically thread bear. At one point I thought it was my front loading washing machine so I went through all of those dido's, and it is still the bed!!
I have sprayed it with freebreze, odobon, just about anything I can thing of and I am about to chuck the damn thing.
If anyone has any thoughts, please let me know. It is VERY comfortable, as long as you don't my being offended in the olfactory sense.
Thanks,

I am dying to know..
Has anyone with the sleep number tried the glass of red wine on one side while jumping on the other side ??

Best bed that I have read about is only sold via mail order from a company in Omaha. It's $3000-3500 and is usually through referral from a chiro. I think that they offer a 30 day warranty, and prob pay the chiro a commission. They said that they don't market it any other way.

Other than Sleep Number, you pay for the name when the exact same guts (coils, foam etc) may be available for less under a diff name.

There is a guy who has been in biz for many years selling matresses in Murrieta. The owner is the only one there, he isn't high pressure and is easy to deal with.
You can go batty with decisions, regular, pillowtop, eurotop,
I remember prices from a few hundred up to around $2000 and he had good answers to questions.

Went and checked out the Sleep Number. Set it at 100. Pretty nice and firm. Hubby hates it. Adjusted his side low. Doesn't matter. Says it's like sleeping on an air mattress. He loves the Tempurpedic. I don't know how many more nights I can stand it. We may be doing different beds if this keeps up.

Have you tried acupunture? If you've tried everything that Western medicine has to offer, and your hubbie's heart is set on keeping your Temper-Pedic, maybe it is worth a shot. Just a thought. :)

oh, and novice1027. . . your post made me laugh only because it just proves that there is no "perfect" bed for everyone because I absolutely HATE waterbeds and they make my back feel like crap! No advice on the smell, but geez, good luck with that.

Tried accupuncture after the chiros didn't work. It helped a little, but not covered under insurance. Can't keep going. It gets expensive, but I have to say, I was impressed w/accupunture.

I used to have a heated waterbed many moons ago. It was not bad. Just a hassle when moving. I wouldn't know what to tell you about as far as the smell.

I agree with you on the acupunture thing--the results seem to be pretty impressive, but the cost/lack of insurance coverage is a big issue. This is one area where I wish there would be a paradigm shift to allow for more access to treatments like this, where there is a tangible benefit but it isn't mainstream here yet. Not wacky fringe treatments (no offense to anyone who *likes* wacky fringe treatments!) but stuff like acupunture with proven benefits. Cranio-sacral therapy might be covered by insurance--I'm not sure, but they were starting to do it in the military before my hubbie got out.

I'm w/you atr. I could of course pop pills and no shortage of doctors wanting to medicate me. I just want to know the problem, not take something for the symptom. Frustrated w/the medical system. They either want to cut you up or give you drugs.

When they were trying to tell me it was a posterior ulcer, they wanted me to take Prilosec and all the other ulcer meds. And I was sure it wasn't. I made them do the blood test and endoscopy to prove it wasn't. I refused to take the meds unless they told me for sure it was an ulcer.

Maybe I'll just make another trip to the accupuncturist.

I like the Custom Comfort XX Firm. We've topped it with a 2 inch Serta memory foam. It gives us the memory foam cushioning for pressure points with the underlying firmness to get support. We bought an extra thick cotton mattress pad/cover to get breathabilty on the memory foam.

I've tried the tempurpedics in the stores and the higher end ones are better about that sink in feeling.(Rhapasody II etc.) I couldn't stand the classic tempurpedic within minutes of lying down on it.

jpinpb,
Try reading "The mind body connection" by Dr Sarno. I did several years ago and found it to be very interesting. Also there is a PT rehab (health source) in Rancho Bernardo, that specializes in pilates for back pain, and my insurance paid for it. Both really helped.

"Went and checked out the Sleep Number. Set it at 100. Pretty nice and firm. Hubby hates it. Adjusted his side low. Doesn't matter. Says it's like sleeping on an air mattress. He loves the Tempurpedic. I don't know how many more nights I can stand it. We may be doing different beds if this keeps up."

We checked on the tempupedic and almost bought one. Then we slept on one at a relative's for a week and really didn't like it. Wound up with a sleep number - the middle of the road series. The various series have different amounts of foam and we felt they did make a difference. Hubby went throught the same thing as you before that and said sleeping on the floor felt better than beds. He slept much better with the sleep number set at 100 initially, but the chiro said if your bed is too firm, then your body/back stays tense and to try softening it up a bit. He lowered it to 85-90 and it is more comfortable for him. I usually keep my side at 40-45. Lower than that and everything aches the next day.

So maybe try the various bed series with the different amounts of foam. I think we had the 30 day option to return it if we weren't happy with it. You can also have them do the pressure point test at the store to see where your pressure points are and at what number they're eased. IIRC, they do the test on one of the beds without much foam though and we thought some of the other beds were more comfortable.

jp, I had lower back pain on and off for years. I came to understand that it was a manifestation of feeling unsupported in my life. At the same time I was healing those issues emotionally, we purchased a Simmons (spent more money on that bed than anything else at that point in my life).

No lower back pain since.

Oh and yoga

Oh and I quit smoking

Much healing sent to you.